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S 8370 NY
Passed Legislature

Relates to the responsibility for certain temporary-resident preschool children with disabilities

NY · session 2025-2026 · Senate · bill

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Introduced Jun 5, 2025

Latest action (May 19, 2026) REFERRED TO EDUCATION

Summary

This bill clarifies the responsibility of New York school districts and municipalities for providing preschool services to children with disabilities who are temporarily resident in different locations due to foster care placement, homelessness, or residential facility admission. The bill specifies that the school district responsible for evaluation and placement depends on the child's situation and may involve a best-interest determination. When the municipality of current location is responsible, the state reimburses 100% of approved costs, while the municipality of origin pays any remaining local contribution. The bill establishes clear procedures for identifying which municipality and school district bear financial responsibility and requires proper notice to both municipalities. The bill takes effect 90 days after enactment.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Official abstract

Clarifies the responsibility of school districts for certain temporary-resident preschool children with disabilities who are in foster care, are homeless or are in residential care.

Sponsor (1)

Action history (14)

  1. Jun 5, 2025 REFERRED TO RULES · upper
  2. Jun 9, 2025 ORDERED TO THIRD READING CAL.1670 · upper
  3. Jun 11, 2025 PASSED SENATE · upper
  4. Jun 11, 2025 DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY · upper
  5. Jun 11, 2025 REFERRED TO EDUCATION · lower
  6. Jan 7, 2026 DIED IN ASSEMBLY · lower
  7. Jan 7, 2026 RETURNED TO SENATE · lower
  8. Jan 7, 2026 REFERRED TO EDUCATION · upper
  9. May 5, 2026 1ST REPORT CAL.908 · upper
  10. May 6, 2026 2ND REPORT CAL. · upper
  11. May 7, 2026 ADVANCED TO THIRD READING · upper
  12. May 19, 2026 PASSED SENATE · upper
  13. May 19, 2026 DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY · upper
  14. May 19, 2026 REFERRED TO EDUCATION · lower

Text versions (2)

The published texts of this bill as it moves through the legislature. Each links to the official document on the state legislature site. Data from OpenStates.

  • S8370 · HTML
  • S8370 · PDF

Full text

Full text imported from assembly.state.ny.us

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Bill No.: Summary Actions Committee&nbspVotes Floor&nbspVotes Memo Text LFIN Chamber&nbspVideo/Transcript S08370 Summary: BILL NO S08370 &nbsp SAME AS No Same As &nbsp SPONSOR FAHY &nbsp COSPNSR &nbsp MLTSPNSR &nbsp Amd §4410-a, Ed L &nbsp Clarifies the responsibility of school districts for certain temporary-resident preschool children with disabilities who are in foster care, are homeless or are in residential care.

Go to top S08370 Text:

STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________

8370

2025-2026 Regular Sessions

IN SENATE

June 5, 2025 ___________

Introduced by Sen. FAHY -- (at request of the State Education Depart- ment) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules

AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the responsibility for certain temporary-resident preschool children with disabilities

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows:

1 Section 1. Section 4410-a of the education law, as added by chapter 53 2 of the laws of 1990 and as renumbered by chapter 705 of the laws of 3 1992, the section heading, paragraph f of subdivision 1 and subdivisions 4 2, 3 and 4 as amended by chapter 371 of the laws of 2023, paragraph b of 5 subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 569 of the laws of 1994, paragraphs 6 d, e and g of subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 705 of the laws of 7 1992 and paragraph h of subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 280 of the 8 laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows: 9 § 4410-a. Responsibility for certain temporary-resident preschool 10 children with disabilities. 1. Definitions. For the purpose of this 11 section, the following definitions shall apply: 12 a. "[ Foster care child ] Child in foster care " shall mean a child 13 placed in foster care by a social services district. 14 b. "[ Homeless child ] Child who is homeless " shall mean a homeless 15 child as defined in paragraph a of subdivision one of section thirty-two 16 hundred nine of this chapter. 17 c. "Municipality" shall mean a county outside the city of New York or 18 the city, in the case of a county in the city of New York. 19 d. "Municipality of current location" shall mean a municipality in 20 which a child lives which is different from the municipality [ in which a 21 child or such child's family lived at the time a social services 22 district assumed responsibility for the placement of such child or fami- 23 ly, or at the time such child was admitted for care and/or treatment in 24 a facility licensed or operated by another state agency ] of origin .

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08184-01-5

S. 8370 2

1 e. "Municipality of [ residence ] origin " shall mean : 2 (i) for a child in foster care, the municipality within the state of 3 New York in which a child or such child's [ family lived ] parent or 4 person in parental relation resided at the time [ the local social 5 services district assumed responsibility for the placement of such child 6 or family, or at the time ] of placement into foster care when the social 7 services district assumed care and custody or custody and guardianship 8 of such child; 9 (ii) for a child who is homeless, the municipality within the state of 10 New York in which a child or such child's parent or person in parental 11 relation resided when circumstances arose which caused such child to 12 become homeless; and 13 (iii) for a child in residential care, the municipality within the 14 state of New York in which a child or such child's parent or person in 15 parental relation resided at the time such child was admitted for care 16 and/or treatment in a facility licensed or operated by [ another ] a state 17 agency , other than the office of children and family services . 18 f. "Preschool child with a disability" shall mean a child eligible for 19 services pursuant to section forty-four hundred ten of this [ chapter ] 20 article . 21 g. "School district of current location" for a child who is homeless 22 or in residential care shall mean a school district in which a child 23 lives which is different from the school district [ in which a child or 24 such child's family lived at the time a social services district assumed 25 responsibility for the placement of such child or family, or at the time 26 such child was admitted for care and/or treatment in a facility licensed 27 or operated by another state agency ] of origin. For a child in foster 28 care such term shall mean "school district of residence" as defined in 29 section thirty-two hundred forty-four of this chapter . 30 h. "Child in residential care" shall mean a child residing in a facil- 31 ity , hospital or institution licensed or operated by [ another ] a state 32 agency , other than the office of children and family services, as 33 defined by subdivision six of section 1.03 of the mental hygiene law or 34 by paragraph (m) of subdivision one of section two of the public health 35 law. 36 i. "School district of origin" shall mean: (i) for a child in foster 37 care, the school district within the state of New York in which the 38 child in foster care was attending a public preschool on a tuition-free 39 basis or was entitled to attend, or would have been entitled to attend 40 had the child been the eligible age to attend, at the time of placement 41 into foster care when the social services district assumed care and 42 custody or custody and guardianship of such child; 43 (ii) for a child who is homeless, the school district within the state 44 of New York in which a child who is homeless was attending a public 45 preschool on a tuition-free basis or was entitled to attend, or would 46 have been entitled to attend had the child been the eligible age to 47 attend, when circumstances arose which caused such child to become home- 48 less; and 49 (iii) for a child in residential care, the school district within the 50 state of New York in which a child was attending a public preschool on a 51 tuition-free basis or was entitled to attend, or would have been enti- 52 tled to attend had the child been the eligible age to attend, at the 53 time such child was admitted for care and/or treatment in a facility 54 licensed or operated by a state agency, other than the office of chil- 55 dren and family services.

S. 8370 3

1 2. School district evaluation and placement responsibility. a. The 2 school district of current location of a [ foster care or homeless child 3 or ] child in residential care shall be responsible for the evaluation 4 and placement procedures prescribed for a preschool child suspected of 5 having or who has a disability pursuant to section forty-four hundred 6 ten of this [ chapter ] article . 7 b. The school district of origin or the school district of current 8 location of a child in foster care designated pursuant to paragraph (a) 9 of subdivision two of section thirty-two hundred forty-four of this 10 chapter shall be responsible for the evaluation and placement for a 11 preschool child suspected of having or who has a disability pursuant to 12 section forty-four hundred ten of this article, subject to a best inter- 13 est determination pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdivision two of 14 section thirty-two hundred forty-four of this chapter. 15 c. The school district of origin or the school district of current 16 location of a child who is homeless designated pursuant to subdivision 17 two of section thirty-two hundred nine of this chapter shall be respon- 18 sible for the evaluation and placement procedures prescribed for a 19 preschool child suspected of having or who has a disability pursuant to 20 section forty-four hundred ten of this article, subject to a best inter- 21 est determination pursuant to subparagraph three of paragraph f of 22 subdivision two of section thirty-two hundred nine of this chapter. 23 d. In issuing its written notice of determination of services, the 24 board of education of [ such ] the school district with evaluation and 25 placement responsibility as determined pursuant to paragraphs a, b, and 26 c of this subdivision shall identify the municipality of [ residence ] 27 origin and the municipality of current location, of a preschool child 28 with a disability who is a child in foster care or [ homeless ] child who 29 is homeless or child in residential care. Such notice of determination 30 shall be transmitted to both the municipality of [ residence ] origin and 31 the municipality of current location. 32 3. Contract and payment responsibility. The municipality of [ current 33 location ] the school district which is determined to be responsible for 34 the evaluation and placement of such child, pursuant to subdivision two 35 of this section, shall be the municipality of record for a preschool 36 child with a disability who is a child in foster care or a child who is 37 homeless [ child ] or a child in residential care for the purposes of 38 section forty-four hundred ten of this [ chapter ] article provided, 39 however, that, notwithstanding the provision of paragraph b of subdivi- 40 sion eleven of such section, if the municipality of record is the muni- 41 cipality of current location, the state shall reimburse one hundred 42 percent of the approved costs paid by such municipality which shall be 43 offset by the local contribution due pursuant to subdivision four of 44 this section. 45 4. Local contribution. [ The ] If the municipality of record as 46 described in subdivision three of this section is the municipality of 47 current location, the municipality of [ residence ] origin shall be finan- 48 cially responsible for the local contribution which shall equal that 49 portion of the approved costs of services to a child in foster care or a 50 child who is homeless [ child ] or a child in residential care with a 51 disability which would not be reimbursed pursuant to the schedule set 52 out in paragraph b of subdivision eleven of section forty-four hundred 53 ten of this [ chapter ] article . The commissioner shall certify to the 54 comptroller the amount of the local contribution owed by each munici- 55 pality to the state. The comptroller shall deduct the amount of such 56 local contribution first from any moneys due the municipality pursuant

S. 8370 4

1 to such section and then from any other moneys due or to become due such 2 municipality. 3 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 4 have become a law.

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